The Scottish Government is committed to developing a national
strategy that will promote the use of digital technology across all
areas of Curriculum for Excellence. It will do this by setting out
a number of actions and expectations designed to help deliver four
key objectives:

Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the
appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support
learning and teaching.

Improve access to digital technology for all learners.

Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in
all curriculum and assessment delivery.

Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment
in digital technology for learning and teaching.

The policy will also contribute to the following Scottish
Government National Outcomes:

Our children have the best start in life and are ready to
succeed;

Our young people are successful learners, confident
individuals, effective contributors and responsible
citizens;

We are better educated, more skilled and more successful,
renowned for our research and innovation;

We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish
society;

We live in well-designed, sustainable places where we are
able to access the services we need; and

We realise our economic potential with more and better
employment opportunities for our people.

Following a public consultation on the development of a national
strategy, an equality impact assessment (
EQIA) was
carried out and this document provides a summary of the findings of
that assessment.

Consideration was initially given to how the new strategy would
impact on all of the protected characteristics outlined in the
Equality Act 2010. After an initial scoping exercise, it was deemed
that the strategy would not impact on all protected characteristics
but that it could potentially have an impact on individuals with
the following protected characteristics:

Age

Disability

Sex

Pregnancy and Maternity

Gender Reassignment

Sexual Orientation

Race

The assessment therefore focused on how the strategy will impact
on individuals with the above characteristics.

In addition to the protected characteristics outlined above,
consideration was given to individuals from disadvantaged
socio-economic backgrounds. Socio-economic status is not a
protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 however, the
assessment process highlighted that the strategy could potentially
have a negative impact on learners from the most disadvantaged
socio-economic backgrounds. It was therefore prudent to record
these considerations as part of the assessment process.

In assessing the impact of the strategy on the relevant
protected characteristics a broad and comprehensive evidence base
was collated. This included responses from a public consultation,
responses from two further consultations targeted specifically at
children and young people, a number of national statistics gathered
by the Scottish Government or similar national bodies and various
other relevant studies, reports and surveys.

The evidence available indicated that the proposed strategy will
have a positive impact on all of the relevant protected
characteristics listed above. The impact assessment process did
however highlight that the strategy could unintentionally have a
negative impact on learners who are more socio-economically
disadvantaged than their peers. In recognition of this, the
strategy will be developed to ensure any potential negative impacts
are mitigated as far as possible.

Background

Following a positive response to a public consultation, the
Scottish Government is committed to developing a national strategy
that will promote and support the use of digital technology to
enhance education. The ultimate beneficiaries of the strategy will
be children and young people aged 3-18 in education in Scotland.
The strategy will help to achieve the Scottish Government's vision
that all of Scotland's educators, learners and parents take full
advantage of opportunities offered by digital technology in order
to raise attainment, ambition and opportunities for all.

The strategy will set out a comprehensive approach to enhancing
education through the use of digital technology. This approach will
be built upon four objectives:

Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the
appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support
learning and teaching.

Improve access to digital technology for all learners.

Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in
all areas of curriculum and assessment delivery.

Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment
in digital technology for learning and teaching.

As the strategy will impact on individuals such as learners,
parents, teachers and other educators, some of whom will possess
protected characteristics, it was deemed that an
EQIA should
be completed.

The Scope of the
EQIA

An initial scoping exercise concluded that the strategy could
potentially have an impact on individuals with the following
protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act 2010
[1]:

Age

Disability

Sex

Pregnancy and Maternity

Gender Reassignment

Sexual Orientation

Race

In line with the public sector equality duty the
EQIA
assessed how the strategy might eliminate discrimination,
harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity and
foster good relations under each of the seven protected
characteristics identified above.

The scoping exercise also highlighted that the strategy could
have an impact on individuals from more disadvantaged
socio-economic backgrounds. Although socio-economic background is
not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, it was
deemed prudent to assess the impact the strategy would have on
individuals experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.

Following the identification of the protected characteristics
relevant to the policy, a broad evidence base was collated to allow
the Scottish Government to properly assess the strategy's impact on
each relevant characteristic. This evidence base included responses
from a public consultation
[2], responses from two further consultations targeted solely at
children and young people
[3], a number of national statistics gathered by the Scottish
Government or other national bodies and various other relevant
studies, reports and surveys that are referenced throughout this
report.

To ensure that the
EQIA was
comprehensive, colleagues from a number of policy areas were
involved in the impact assessment process. These areas included
Scottish Government Education Analytical Services, Scottish
Government Equalities Unit, Scottish Government Learning
Directorate, the Embedding Digital Learning and Teaching Programme
at Education Scotland and the views of external stakeholders
gathered as part of the public consultation process and a number of
face-to-face consultation events
[4].

Key Findings

The key findings of the impact assessment process were as
follows.

Age

Evidence gathered under this characteristic focused on the
potential for the strategy to impact negatively on educators over
40. There is evidence to show that younger teachers have a more
positive attitude towards digital technology than older teachers.
[5] In addition, we know that digital technology has only taken up
a pervasive position in our society in approximately the last 25
years. It is therefore possible to conclude that teachers and early
years practitioners over the age of 40
[6] would not have had the same exposure to digital technology as
younger educators during their broad general and professional
educations. This could potentially lead to older educators being at
a disadvantage when asked to incorporate digital technology into
their lessons.

Despite this evidence it is predicted that the impact of the
strategy on older educators will be minor. Evidence has shown that
previous exposure to digital technology has a bigger influence on a
teacher's attitude towards digital technology than their age.
[7] The new strategy will help to provide educators with training
opportunities focussing on how digital technology can be used to
enhance education and therefore eliminate any disadvantage a
teacher may experience because of their age.

The process also highlighted how the strategy will have a
positive impact on school aged learners who will seek employment in
the near future. Currently individuals aged 16-24 are the most
likely of any age group in Scotland to be unemployed
[8]. We also know that digital skills of the kind the new strategy
will help learners develop can be central to finding work
[9] in an economy that is becoming increasingly more digitised.
[10] Therefore, it was deemed that the strategy will have a
positive impact on the employability of school aged young people;
especially those leaving education and seeking work.

Disability

Evidence tells us that in general, learners with a disability
reach lower attainment levels than their non-disabled peers
[11]. Disabled people also report that a lack of appropriate skills
prevent a higher percentage of them entering the job market
compared to their non-disabled peers.
[12] However, evidence also suggests that the use of digital
technology in education can help learners with a disability raise
their attainment levels.
[13] It was therefore deemed that the new strategy will have a
positive impact on disabled individuals.

Sex

Evidence collected under this characteristic tells us that
females have a lower exposure to digital technology than males
[14], a disproportionately low level of females study computing or
similar
IT related
subjects
[15] and a disproportionately low level of females work in the
digital industry.
[16] The new strategy will allow more female learners to experience
digital technology from an early age. Female learners then have the
opportunity to start building skills and experiences that will give
them the same opportunities that their male counterparts currently
take up in the digital sector.

Pregnancy and maternity

Assessment under this characteristic focussed on school aged
learners who are not able to attend school regularly because they
fall pregnant. Evidence suggests that there is inadequate
educational support available to these learners.
[17] The new strategy will have a positive impact as it allows for
the possibility of a teenage mother or expectant mother continuing
their learning remotely using a digital device. This option would
not be available if a school had not utilised digital technology as
part of their learning and teaching.

Gender reassignment and sexual orientation

It should be noted that gender reassignment and sexual
orientation are separate protected characteristics and individuals
possessing these characteristics have very different needs and
considerations. However, much of the evidence that has been
gathered in relation to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or
transgender (
LGBT)
learners has come under the heading of
LGBT and
is not necessarily specific to gender reassignment or sexual
orientation. Therefore, these protected characteristics are
discussed together.

Evidence tells us that a disproportionately high number of
LGBT
individuals directly experience bullying or experience homophobia,
biphobia or transphobia during education
[18]. A significant number of
LGBT
individuals leave education as a result of these experiences and
they subsequently report this has a negative impact on their
employability.
[19]LGBT Youth
Scotland has recommended that all young people should be educated
in
LGBT
issues in an effort to promote inclusion of
LGBT
learners in education and beyond. The increased use of digital
technology in education has the potential to have a positive impact
as it will open up a number of relevant online educational
resources that are not typically available in schools. An educator
could therefore utilise these online resources to educate learners
on
LGBT
issues.

Race

Evidence collected under this characteristic identified that
digital technology can help to promote inclusion for learners from
minority backgrounds; specifically learners who are gypsy
travellers and learners who are learning English as a second
language. There is evidence to show that if a learner from a gypsy
traveller background cannot attend school on a regular basis,
digital technology can offer them the chance to continue with their
education from home
[20][21]. The strategy will facilitate this positive impact. In
addition, evidence has shown that individuals learning a language
can experience a greater benefit using digital technology rather
than traditional educational methods.
[22] As the strategy will bring about the introduction of more
digital technology in schools, those learning English as a second
language may experience a benefit.

Socio-economic

Evidence tells us that learners from the most disadvantaged
backgrounds reach lower standards of attainment than learners from
the least disadvantaged backgrounds.
[23] However, there is also evidence to show that digital
technology can help to close that attainment gap and raise the
attainment of learners from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
[24] By promoting the use of digital technology in education, the
strategy has the potential to help raise the attainment levels of
socio-economically disadvantaged learners.

The assessment process also identified that those who suffer
from socio-economic disadvantage experience a "digital divide" from
those less disadvantaged.
[25] This is to say that they do not have the same access to
digital technology which can mean they do not own digital
technology or they do not have access to the internet at home. If
the new strategy places an emphasis on using digital technology in
education, those who do not have access to technology at home could
be negatively affected.

Despite this evidence the potential negative impact is expected
to be small. This is because we know that the "digital divide" is
closing rapidly.
[26] In addition, the strategy will not look to completely replace
traditional learning and teaching methods, only enhance them when
appropriate. Therefore a learner would still have the choice to
complete work without using digital technology especially if they
were in a situation where it wasn't available to them.

Recommendations and Conclusion

The assessment process has found that the strategy will have a
positive impact on all of the relevant protected characteristics as
defined by the Equality Act 2010. It will help to enhance equality
of opportunity for those who possess protected characteristics. For
example, learners from gypsy traveller backgrounds will have a
greater opportunity to keep up with school work if they can utilise
digital technology to undertake distance learning. The strategy
will also help towards promoting good relations between those who
possess protected characteristics and those that do not. For
example, it is likely that
LGBT
learners will experience less harassment if access to digital
technology allows their peers to be educated on the subjects of
sexual orientation and gender reassignment. Crucially, it was also
found that the strategy will not unlawfully discriminate against
individuals who possess any protected characteristics.

There was however some evidence to show that the strategy may
impact negatively on the most socio-economically disadvantaged
learners. Although socio-economic circumstance is not a protected
characteristic, any potential negative impact arising from the
strategy is worth considering. It is recommended that the final
strategy should place an expectation on local authorities and
education establishments to ensure that all of their learners
experience the same access to digital technology during the time
they spend in the school or early learning setting. This will
ensure that learners from more deprived socio-economic
disadvantages are not discriminated against.

It is not proposed that the strategy will place any expectation
on local authorities or education establishments in respect of
digital access outside of the classroom. This is because the
strategy will be clearly defined as an education strategy and will
not reach further into socio-economic policy. Instead, Scottish
Government initiatives such as the Digital Participation Strategy
[27] will help to ensure that learners from more deprived
socio-economic backgrounds can access digital technology outside a
formal education setting.

It is also recommended that the impact of the strategy on those
with protected characteristics should be reviewed every 2 years.
This will be carried out by the Scottish Government's Digital
Learning and Teaching Team and involve a fresh gathering of
evidence around all of the protected characteristics outlined in
the Equality Act 2010 and a targeted consultation if deemed
necessary.